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We examine the role of knowledge spillovers in fostering regional new firm formation in 230 NACE-4 manufacturing industries and 980 NUTS-3 regions in Europe. We find that regionally embedded knowledge stocks represented by patents have a positive association with new firm formation, but that knowledge protection and appropriation strategies of incumbents discourage such new firm entries. Knowledge stocks represented by trademarks only translate into higher entry rates in the absence of a pronounced appropriation strategy of incumbent firms or when entrants do not directly compete with the trademarking incumbents. Our findings highlight the two-sided effects of trademarks as an indicator of product novelties as well as a potential expression of strengthened incumbent appropriation strategies. ispartof: Regional Studies vol:56 issue:2 pages:1-17 status: Published online

Global value chain (GVC) participation is generally seen as an important avenue for developing countries to access new markets and diversify exports, to add value to local industries and to increase employment. For developing country firms it provides opportunities to access knowledge to enhance learning and capability building. However, many firms in developing countries do not directly integrate into GVCs but rather into regional value chains (RVCs) or local value chains (LVCs), as these have become increasingly important due to the emergence of “Southern”-end markets and increased South-South trade. In this paper we examine and compare the role of involvement in these different types of value chains in stimulating supplier learning in the context of the IT-enabled service (ITES) industry. We distinguish between different types of learning and argue that learning outcomes depend crucially on value chain governance: the power balance and interactions between the lead firms and suppliers. We draw on a survey among the population of ITES providers in South Africa. These novel firm level data allow for a study of learning mechanisms in value chains at the firm level, going beyond prior studies of aggregate level relationships. In a multivariate analysis, we find that service providers in GVCs learn via interactions with their client firms. Yet, GVC participation is not the only avenue for client learning and capability building; we similarly observe learning in LVCs and RVCs. Learning is generally and strongly enhanced by trust-based governance of the client-supplier relationship, while in GVCs, control-based governance additionally promotes learning specifically in the IT domain. These findings provide a better understanding of how firms in developing countries can build capabilities in local, regional and global value chains of services, a topic that has gained interest among development practitioners. ispartof: World Development vol:141 issue:2021 pages:1-10 status: Published online

Using unique innovation survey data collected among a homogenous sample of firms active in the textiles and apparel sector in Pakistan, this paper analyses the role of innovation for employment growth. In particular, it develops and tests the hypothesis that innovation is conducive to employment creation, and that this is especially the case for smaller and younger firms, supporting the hypothesis that young innovative companies grow faster by engaging in riskier and more radical innovation to catch up with incumbent firms. We find empirical evidence for these hypotheses, which is robust to different model specifications and estimation techniques and to different measures of innovation. Young innovative companies also perform well in absolute employment creation making them interesting targets from a policy perspective.

Most evidence on survey response effects is based in the Western world. We use data from two randomized experiments built into a nation-wide representative household survey in Tunisia to analyze the effects of framing and priming on responses to gender attitudes in the Arab context. Our first experiment shows that questions on attitudes towards decision-making power when framed in an equality frame reduce responses in favor of gender inequality. In our second experiment we find that responses to attitudes towards domestic violence are susceptible to an audio primer. Oral statistical information about the incidence of domestic violence in Tunisia increases disapproval of domestic violence among the male subsample further, but does not affect women. In terms of impact heterogeneity, we find mixed results for treatment interventions interacting with the gender of the interviewer and the interviewer’s perceived religiosity.

This paper analyses the impact of International Standards Certification (ISC) on the export participation and the scale of exports of firms based in 89 developing or transition countries. We conceptualise ISC as an endogenous institutional advantage, which bridges institutional voids in the country and helps firms to export. The empirical results show that certified firms are more likely to export, and to export on a larger scale. The impact of ISC runs through two channels: productivity and transaction cost economies. We show that certification plays an important role in bringing down transaction costs in international markets, while also maintaining and raising efficiency. This finding is reinforced by additional evidence, suggesting that ISC matters more for the export participation of domestic firms than for foreign firms and is of greater importance for firms based in countries characterised by severe institutional voids.

Using recently collected firm-level data from Egypt and Tunisia, this paper explores the effect of institutional obstacles and corruption on the innovative behavior of firms and their effect on firms’ employment growth. We estimate the micro-level interactions between corruption and institutional obstacles and test the hypothesis that corruption ‘greases the wheels’ of firm performance when bureaucratic procedures are more severe and hampering innovation. Accounting for endogeneity and simultaneity, the paper uses a conditional recursive mixed-process model (CMP). The results show that corruption has a direct negative effect on the likelihood that a firm is an innovator, but a positive effect when interacted with institutional obstacles. This provides support for the hypothesis that corruption serves as a mechanism to bypass the bureaucratic obstacles related to obtaining the necessary business permits and licenses for product innovation. These effects also resonate into firm growth, through their effect on product innovation.

We provide evidence that both human capital and R&D increase the likelihood that a firm will be a high-growth firm in the industry. However, different from human capital, being an R&D active firm also increases the probability of substantial decline or failure, underscoring the risky nature of innovation. Quantile regression results show that, different from R&D, human capital is growth-enhancing for all firms, hence also those located in the lower quantiles of the distribution of growth rates across firms.

National framework conditions directly affect the productivity of firms, but also moderate returns on their technological efforts. Although this has long been recognised, there is a dearth of quantitative analyses that openly consider this hypothesis. Using a data set of 15 425 manufacturing firms in 32 developing countries, we investigate the impact of national institutions on firms’ total factor productivity with the help of multilevel modelling. The results indicate that technological infrastructure and educational system make a large difference, and also most significantly interact with firms’ technological capabilities. However, governance measures that are conventionally considered in the literature explain surprisingly little.

This paper examines the effects of international standards certification (ISC) on both productivity and sales performance for firms from a wide set of countries exhibiting different degrees of institutional development. Against a large dataset of manufacturing firms operating in 59 countries we find that ISC raises productivity and sales performance of firms through efficiency gains and quality signaling, with the effects being larger in countries where market supporting institutions are weak. The largest gain in performance comes from direct productivity improvements helping firms to climb the technological ladder and closing the productivity gap with firms based in developed countries. ispartof: World Development vol:47 pages:87-101 status: published

Using firm-level data from five developing countries--Brazil, Ecuador, South Africa, Tanzania, and Bangladesh--and three industries--food processing, textiles, and the garments and leather products--this article examines the importance of various sources of knowledge for explaining productivity and formally tests whether sector- or country-specific characteristics dominate these relationships. Knowledge sources driving productivity appear mainly sector specific. Also differences in the level of development affect the effectiveness of knowledge sources. In the food processing sector, firms with higher educated managers are more productive, and in least-developed countries, additionally those with technology licenses and imported machinery and equipment. In the capital-intensive textiles sector, productivity is higher in firms that conduct R&D. In the garments and leather products sector, higher education of the managers, licensing, and R&D raise productivity. Copyright 2014 The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Associazione ICC. All rights reserved., Oxford University Press.

Using World Bank ICS 2000–2002 data from Brazilian manufacturing firms, this paper identifies innovation strategies of firms – in particular internal development (“technology make”) and external acquisition (“technology buy)” – and their effect on successful process and product innovations. It subsequently explores the importance of process and product innovations for firm growth. Successful process and product innovations occur mostly through “technology buy” (mostly through the purchase of machinery and equipment), either alone or in combination with a “technology make” strategy. The option of only relying on internal development is less successful. The results on firm growth indicate that innovative performance is an important driver for firm growth. It is particularly the combination of product and process innovations that significantly improves firm growth. Both innovation and growth performance are supported by access to finance. Skills of workforce and management matter, but not necessarily tertiary education levels. The impact of international linkages on innovative and growth performance is mixed.

International audience; Relying on a structural nonparametric estimation, we show that co2 emissions clearly increase with income at low income levels. For higher income levels, we observe a decreasing relationship, though not significant. We also find that co2 emissions monotonically increases with energy use at a decreasing rate.; À l’aide d’une modélisation non paramétrique structurelle, nous montrons que les émissions de co2 augmentent clairement avec le revenu pour de faibles niveaux de revenus. Cette relation est décroissante bien que non significative pour des niveaux de revenu élevés. Nous observons également que les émissions de co2 augmentent de manière monotone, mais à un taux décroissant, avec la consommation d’énergie.

This article analyses the growth performance of a large set of entrepreneurial firms in ten manufacturing sectors of 11 Sub-Saharan African countries. The focus of the article is on identifying those entrepreneurs’ attributes and firm characteristics that tend to generate a significant number of high-growth firms in these countries. To this end, we use a quantile regression, which provides a more complete estimation of the growth distribution of firms conditional on different attributes. The results indicate that firms that engage in product innovation, have their own transport means and are connected to the internet through their own website are especially characterized by higher growth rates and also display a distribution of growth rates skewed to the right, hosting a higher number of high-growth firms. The effect of the last two variables, which relate to distance-bridging modes of infrastructure, points to the self-reinforcing growth effects they generate in creating wider input and output markets. Education raises growth opportunities by affecting the lower quantiles, but it does not appear to influence the upper quantiles. The estimated conditional growth distributions for the technology-intensive machinery and electronics sectors show more extreme tails and a lower mean in comparison to the traditional industries, indicating the more risky nature of doing business in these industries.

Using cross-sectional firm-level data, this paper examines the determinants of productivity among manufacturing firms in Tanzania. In particular, it seeks to evaluate the relative importance of technological advances and the business environment in which firms operate in affecting productivity. Of the technological variables, RD only foreign ownership, ISO certification and higher education of the management appear to affect productivity. Some important influences from the broader business environment, however, appear to affect productivity and are robust to different specifications of the model. Credit constraints, administrative regulatory burdens and a lack of business support services depress productivity; membership of a business association is associated with higher productivity.

This paper investigates the sources of inefficiency of firms in Cote d'Ivoire and exam ines to what extent these effects translate into poor performance. A large majority of firms is technically inefficient, producing far below the maximum attainable output level. Major cost savings can also be realised through enlarging the scale of activities of firms. Efficiency gains and scale advantages translate into a better competitive position and via their impact on market share into higher profitability. However, severe growth barriers and imperfect markets keep firms from realising these gains and prevent firms from catching up in technology with respect to their larger, older and often foreign owned competitors.

This article analyses the determinants of individuals’ choice for self‐employment and entrepreneurial success in Cote d'Ivoire. Entrepreneurial activity is found to be undertaken by individuals who succeed in increasing their entrepreneurial abilities and reducing the risk of starting a business through a learning process that takes place through ageing, professional experience, and apprenticeship or, alternatively, formal education. The learning process takes place both before and after entry into the industry, as firms grow into a larger size. However, financial constraints continue to play a major restraining role for entrepreneurship and firm growth.

Relying on a structural nonparametric estimation, we show that CO2 emissions clearly increase with income at low income levels. For higher income levels, we observe a decreasing relationship, though not significant. We also find that CO2 emissions monotonically increases with energy use at a decreasing rate.

Using firm data, this study investigates the various sources of firm learning, investment and linkages, and their importance for product innovation in Tanzania. The analysis reveals important differences in innovation strategies for foreign and local firms. Foreign innovative firms have stronger vertical linkages with other foreign firms and invest more in human and physical capital. Local firms offset these disadvantages through in-house R&D, connectivity, and collaboration with other local firms, proving to be more embedded in the local industrial structure. Copyright 2007 , Oxford University Press.

Using two waves (2013, 2015) of the Micro, Small, and Medium sized Enterprises (MSMEs) survey of Vietnamese manufacturing firms, this paper first explores what drives firms��� decision to have a domestic standards certificate, taking into account a rich number of factors related to the cost and expected benefits of certification as well as institutional factors. It further explores the presence of a positive and significant effect of domestic certificates on firm growth, testing whether these serve as signalling devices for desirable attributes under information asymmetry. Evidence is indeed found for a signalling effect of domestic standards certification, being stronger for female-run businesses. Results hold even when controlling for international certifications.